Travel Tips

1 Travel Lightly

We are all guilty of it…..overpacking. We know that we don’t need a third of the stuff that we put into our bags. Carrying your luggage on your back is one way of dramatically reducing it…its amazing what becomes non-essential. We don’t want to be dragging big suitcases or sagging under the weight of a hefty backpack…..we need to look after our backs and our posture. Most things can be bought abroad for a fraction of the price they’d cost at home.

Usually, we only bring carry-on luggage even if our flight comes with a 30 kilo allowance. Travelling on buses, trains and taxis is so much easier when you have little….you become much more nimble, honestly!

If you are travelling from place to place, the more you have, the longer it takes to unpack and pack up again and the harder it is to find anything.

When in doubt….leave it at home.

2 Mobile Phones

Mobile phone have changed the whole nature of travel. I remember meandering for a year through South East Asia on my  way home to Ireland from Australia in the late 1980’s. At that time, telephone calls were only through landlines in telephone centres, they were expensive with echoey lines and lots of crackle. Poste Restante was the  vital communication lifeline allowing mail to be collected at General Post Offices, the excitement of arriving into Denpasar, Bangkok or Delhi and collecting a bundle of letters that was waiting there.

But enough reminiscing….

Mobile phones are essential for booking accommodation, transport and even knowing where you are (this last bit can become more problematic as you get older, especially if you travel a lot.)

Physical sims can be bought at the airport or border crossings but recently we have found that e-sims are a great hassle-free option.

For our recent trips to Morocco and Malaysia, I purchased an e-sim with Revolut, the banking app, before I left home and activated as soon as I entered the relevant country.  It has worked brilliantly each time, meaning that I have mobile coverage from the get-go although it is a little more expensive than buying a physical sim. (Price will depend on the number of GB, the more you buy, the cheaper it is)